“I’m scared of being sent back to jail too, but so many people are suffering worse than us. And our work can help alleviate their suffering."

Huang Qi is one of the most active documenters of human rights violations in China, which he catalogues on his website 64 Tianwang, established in 1998. The website, along with the affiliated 64 Tianwang Human Rights Center, were originally established to help locate victims of kidnapping and human trafficking. Today, the website has expanded its focus to cover all acts of human rights violations taking place in China.

Human rights defenders in China work in an extremely hostile environment and under President Xi Jinping they have seen the space in which to operate further restricted. Chinese HRDs are active in many spheres, and they include lawyers, journalists, academics, transparency campaigners, housing and land rights activists, bloggers, writers, HIV/AIDS activists and those promoting the rights of ethnic minorities. Regardless of the issues they work on, HRDs who highlight abuses, challenge the authorities or network to support detained colleagues all face reprisals from the government. These range from almost daily harassment and intimidation of family members to detentions, disappearances, torture and imprisonment.